Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to containers for storing and shipping panels of material, such as panes of glass.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat panels of glass are commonly shipped in a bundle with a powder between abutting panels. The bundle often is secured in a steel rack by metal or plastic bands which encircle the bundle. The racks often are stacked one upon another in a warehouse with the lower racks supporting the weight of the racks above.
More recently packaging has been devised which employ four corner caps that fit along the intersection of the edges of the bundle of glass panels, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,813,536 and 6,098,804. Corrugated cardboard or wooden sheets extend vertically between adjacent pairs of the corner caps to prevent the stack from racking. Metal or plastic bands then are placed around the bundle to hold the corner caps in place. Although that corner cap structure was an improvement over the racks used previously, the glass panels carried the weight of bundles stacked above.
The prior packaging structures often required that all the panels have the same size and shape. This presents a problem when a particular customer orders a variety of glass panels, in which case separate packaging structures must be used for each size. Furthermore, a customer may require that the different sized pieces be packaged in the particular sequence that the customer needs them in order to fabricate an assembly of glass panels, such as a large window unit that has glass panes of different sizes.
Certain glass panels have delicate coatings that are easily marred and thus must be packaged without touching other panels.
As a consequence, there is a desire to be able to mix glass panels of different sizes and shapes in a single packaging structure and individually support each panel.
The present invention provides a protective packaging structure in which to ship and store a bundle of panels, such as glass panes. Each panel has two major surfaces and a plurality of edge surfaces between the two major surfaces.
The packaging structure has a frame to which a bottom support and a rear support are attached in planes that intersect at substantially a right angle. The bottom support and the rear support hold a plurality of panels in parallel planes that are perpendicular to the planes of those supports. The rear support has a major surface with a plurality of channels. A separate retainer is slidably received in each channel of the rear support in order to engage an upper edge of one of the panels placed in the packaging structure. That engagement applies force which holds the panels against the bottom support. A mechanism, such as a spring, maintains each retainer in engagement with the respective panel.
In the preferred version of the present packaging structure, each panel is slid into notches formed in the bottom and rear supports, thereby restraining the panels from moving transversely to the supports. One of the retainers then is brought into engagement with the panel to force the panel against the bottom support and hold the panel in the packaging structure. Preferably, the planes of the bottom support and the rear support are canted with respect to the horizontal and vertical planes, respectively. This canting results in gravity causing the panels to nest into the intersection of those supports.